Need some info on OLMO bike & Campag parts

[rob f]

Hi I have recently bought an OLMO bike that I'm in the process of stripping down to get refinished as the paintrok is not so good & there are some rust patches. I am then intending to rebuild & have some questions: I'm not entirely sure of the model of the Frame but the rear brake lever runs through the top tube, & it's made of Oria Tubi.

1. I took the seat pin out getting it ready for refinishing. The seatpin came out quite easily & measuring with calipers appears to be 27.0mm but is a replacement made by Ritchie. In reality this frame is a bit small for me, & this seatpin only inserts about 1 1/2" into the seat tube so I'm looking to replace it. Is it likely that this frame should actually take a 27.2mm seatpin given how easy this one pulled out ?

2. I'm guessing that this BB thread & thread on the forks are Italian ?

3. This has a mix of campag parts on it & Xenon rear mech & shifters, with a mirage front mech It has an 8 speed block. The chainset is a cheapo brand on a veloce bottom bracket. I have a double centaur chainset in the garage, & was thinking of replacing the "also ran" chainset. Would the Centaur chainset be compatible with the rest of the rest of the running gear ? WOuld the centaur chainset fit on the veloce BB ?

Tht's all I can think of for now, I'm sure there will be some other questions soon....

 

[MartinB123]

I love Olmo's, get some pics up!

 

[rob f]

Here's a pic of the bike

 

[Midlife]

Oria Tubing is not to be sneered at My Moser is made of it and is pretty light, the Moser just needs repairing so I can do something with it LOL

If the seat post slides easy and clamps up OK with the slot in the metal of the seat lug essentially parallel then should be OK.

Shaun

 

[ScillySuffolk]

1. Like Shaun says, if the clamps slots aren't closed-up when the post is secure, then you have the correct size.

2. Almost certainly. The BB shell will be 70mm in that case, as opposed to 68mm, and the driveside cup will have a right-hand thread; the cups may say 36(mm) x 24(tpi).

Although the threads are cut at a different angle, you can happily use an ISO or JIS headset, depending on the internal diameter of the crown race (ISO 26.4mm, JIS 27.0mm).

3. If I have a range of expertise, then Centaur is certainly beyond it: if I'm correct it was introduced in 2002, in 10 speed guise. The only problem I can foresee, is that the rings will be designed for use with a thinner chain, so might be noisy and shift less smoothly with an 8 speed chain, but should still work. Personally, I'd swap-out the 10 speed rings for 8: condition dependent, the sale of one should cover the cost of the other.

I can't find any info on spindle lengths for Centaur and Veloce, but looking at the 2002 catalogue it would appear that they use the same BB. Veloce has been around for a lot longer than Centaur, so the specs may have changed and your BB may pre-date the cranks. However, assuming you have a crank puller it's a ten minute job to check it out: my money is on it fitting.

 

[MartinB123]

Looks very similar to the Olmo frame I have (there's a pic in the Retrobike SS thread). It's a light frame, almost as light as my Ribble Reynolds 653. I also have a red Olmo Giro (late 90's i'd say as it has vertical dropouts) and my Father has a Silver/Blue Olmo Giro that he's slowly building up.

 

[rob f]

thanks for all the info guys, very much appreciated.

I have some Stronglight rings coming for the Centaur chainset that are supposed to be 8/9/10 speed compatible, so I will have to check when they arrive. Although I could probably use an original Centaur 53 tooth ring I have since the block I'll be using with the OLMO has some pretty large sprockets on it.

I know that the centaur BB for a double ring chainset is 111mm which is probably shorter than the Veloce BB. I'm now thinking that this may be a Mirage BB since many of the other parts are Mirage on this bike, & I've seen the same groupset on these frames looking around on the net. Is the Mirage range any good ? I'm not overly sold on the plastic brake/gear levers ........

 

[daccordimark]

The spindle length is the same for both chainsets, only Chorus and above used shorter spindles.

I do know someone who snapped the plastic gear paddle on their Ergos but I've never had any problems with the plastic bits myself. I've never been able to afford all-metal Ergos and I've even got a Xenon triple rear mech on my main bike that is almost entirely plastic and again it seems tough enough for the job.

Mark.

 

[rob f]

I also have a plastic xenon rear mech on this bike. Do any 8 speed shifters from the campagnolo range work for any rear mech ? Sorry for all these questions, I've only ever had bikes with friction levers before, so it's completely new to me.

 

[ScillySuffolk]

...Is the Mirage range any good ?...

Mirage was introduced in 1995 sitting below Veloce in the hierarchy, with only Avanti (1995 to 1999) and Xenon (2002 onwards) below it; in 2000 and 2001 it was Campagnolo's most basic group. In other words it sits in the middle of Campagnolo's second tier of groupsets, intended as OE on mass-market bikes.

Whether it is any good is more subjective: what do you intend to do with it? Go racing? No: too heavy. Grace a concours build? No: not pretty enough. Form the basis of a practical and regularly ridden bike that you needn't be precious about? Yes.

Certainly, I think the frame is better than the assortment of parts currently on it and I'd be looking to put together a complete group for it: either Veloce or, if I had a bit more cash or the patience to wait for bargains, even Athena/Daytona/Centaur (Athena was replaced by Daytona, which was renamed Centaur), depending on when the frame dates from (assuming you want a period build).

Incidentally, those Xenon shifters are 9 speed, as Xenon wasn't available in 8 speed.